Kim was nice enough to give me another opportunity to join the blogging world so I could tell everyone about the first part the family trip (the part that really only involved me…), which was my drive up to Monterey and my round of golf at Pebble Beach.

Before I get into that, I feel like I need to elaborate a little on a couple of the blog entries from the prior days. First, while Kim was completing her 30th day of running 5K by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, Scotty decided that we needed to celebrate Kim’s accomplishment by eating doughnuts. Unfortunately, he forgot to mention that he was going to eat BOTH doughnuts while Dada watched.

You didn't really want to eat this doughnut, did you?

Following on that theme, on our second day in Monterey, Scotty and I decided to go back to the aquarium while Mom went to the spa. On our way there, Scotty noticed that there was a shop specializing in cinnamon rolls, so we stopped for a quick breakfast. Once again, while I was filling my coffee, Scott took advantage and confiscated the entire roll for himself.

Gee, you're back from getting your coffee awfully quickly...

Once we got to the aquarium, Scotty, now a veteran of the oceans, decided to regale the patrons with his knowledge of otters and jellyfish. He actually stood by the windows and explained to the unsuspecting tourists that, a) sea nettles were bad because they sting people, b) moon jellies are nice, but only when they are little, c) he’s a little older now and can chew gum (really had nothing to do with anything related to sea life, but he told everyone anyway), d) baby Luna (the otter) found her mommy and then went back in the ocean and had her whole family and now he’s going to be a sea otter doctor, and e) he ate Dada’s cinnamon roll. Despite being packed for the 4th of July, most of the people Scotty imparted his knowledge upon seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say (other than the gum and cinnamon roll stories). We also got to see the sea horses and sea dragons on our second trip, and Scotty decided that both animals were nice.

The morning concluded with us in the gift store purchasing: 1) a stuffed sea otter, 2) a sea otter Christmas decoration for the tree (to go along with the jellyfish ornament we purchased the day before), 3) a rubber puffer fish (complete with the spikes), and 4) a book about the aquarium with Luna on the cover. Shortly thereafter, we went outside and found Kim, who was picked us up and got to know our new friends (the otters were a big hit). So, that kind of fills in the blanks for a couple of the parts of the vacation that Kim was not around for. Now, on to Pebble.

The funny part of my playing Pebble is that, for all of my hoping and planning, there was a good chance that it wasn’t going to happen. I had to call at 7:00 a.m. on the Friday before to see if they could slot me in. So, I woke up and called the course at about 7:05. They had already filled up all of their “open” spots (i.e. spots not reserved for people who do what they want you to do and stay 2-3 nights at the Lodge) except 2. But, they were able to slot me in at 1:30 on June 29, so I packed up the car and left. 600 miles doesn’t seem like that far, but that’s essentially like driving from Vegas to San Diego and back in one shot. Plus, there’s no good way to get to northern California from Vegas. Lots of 2-lane highways and zig-zagging. Fortunately, the route goes through Bakersfield, and there is a Chick-fil-a in Bakersfield (now is also a good time to remind readers the Chick-fil-a completely cured whatever was bothering Scotty on the drive from Solvang to LA…just saying), so the drive was not that bad.

I got to Monterey late in the evening, found a relatively cheap place to stay (relative to anything else in Monterey), and then located where I needed to go the next day. I could tell that the area was going to be incredible as soon as I got there, but it was late so I did not linger and went to the hotel and got a decent nights’ sleep. The next morning, I got up early because I really wanted to get there early and explore the area. Great call on my part. I was able to drive around and see a lot of the area, parked the car in time for an early lunch on the balcony overlooking the 18th hole, and sat down for a sandwich and a great view of the 18th green.

Yup, that's the view from lunch.

From there, I hit the pro shop (was I really going to go to Pebble Beach and not get a shirt… and a hat… and a towel… and a shirt for Scotty…), hit the driving range (which was a little underwhelming given the rest of the course), and got ready to play. I met my 3 playing partners, a father, his son and his son-in-law, all very nice, and got ready to play. The weather was absolutely perfect. 77 degrees, sunny, very little wind. About as good as it gets up there. I pulled out my driver and was ready for #1.

No honey, that's not a new driver...

I got lucky right off the bat. I hit my first tee shot off a tree and it dropped right into a clearing with a straight shot into the green. I hit the green, made par, and went to #2. A couple of perfect shots on #2, and I was just off the fringe for an eagle 3. Missed that, but made birdie and was under par after 2 holes. Woo-hoo! I’ve got his course pegged. OK, maybe not. The rest of the front 9 kind of owned me, but I was still having a great time. But, the highlight by far was on #5, where Chris, the son-in-law in the group, hit an 8-iron from 135 yards directly into the hole. I’ve seen a couple of holes-in-one before, but this was different. The caddies pulled the flag, we all signed a certificate on the next hole, got a photo taken, they took his ball and after the round, he got a framed flag with his ball, a picture of us, a picture of the hole, the scorecard and the certificate. Probably the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of on the golf course. Had I not been so excited about the photo, etc., I probably would have listened to the caddie tell me not to hit driver on #8 because I’ll hit it over the cliff into the water. Yep, that hurt. But, I made the turn in 46 which wasn’t terrible but was a little disappointing after par-birdie to start.

I got rolling again on the back side. I hit some really great shots, and other than a complete mental-meltdown on #15 (“Don’t hit it in the front bunker. Don’t hit it in the front bunker.” And…I hit it in the front bunker and made 8), I had a good 9 going. But, 15 hurt, and then I made bogey on 16 and 17 (after I attempted the “Watson chip,” because, that’s what you have to do on #17 at Pebble). I stood on the 18th tee knowing I was 17 over for the round. I really wanted to break 90, but 18 is tough. Long par 5, and the view is, well, distracting.

How do you hit against this backdrop?!

So, I hit my driver, and it was the best drive of the day, just left of the trees in the fairway. But, I was still a long way from home, so I hit another wood and caught that perfectly as well. Now, I’ve got 85 yards to the pin and a sand-wedge in my hand. Normally, not a hard shot, but this is 18 at Pebble. The whole balcony (where I had eaten a few hours earlier) was watching, as were some random guests at the Lodge. Plus, everyone else in my group was either, a) in the ocean, b) behind trees or in the thick rough, or c) stuck in one of the bunkers. Nobody else in the group did better than 8. But, I had enough to worry about, so I took a nice ¾ swing and absolutely hit it perfectly to about 9 feet.

Wow, I have a birdie putt on 18 at Pebble!

As I walked up to the green, one of the patrons was nice enough to tell me that nobody had made birdie for several groups (probably going on 2 hours), an so everyone was going to watch my putt. Great. Thanks. So, everyone in my group finished and everyone stopped to watch my putt. I knew how the putt would break because, a) the caddie gave me a good line, and b) I’ve played a lot of Tiger Woods Golf on the Playstation. So, I stood over the putt, looked one last time, and hit it absolutely like I wanted to. It rolled down the slope toward the hole, and I knew it had a lot of speed. Unfortunately, a little too much, because it hit the hole and lipped out to the right. It seemed like a hundred people on the balcony all took a deep breath at once, and then exhaled when the ball didn’t drop. I tapped in for par, tipped my hat to all of the nice people who had stopped what they were doing for a moment to watch my putt, and then walked off with my 89. After the round, I had dinner and cocktails with my new friends, and the next day, I picked up Kim and Scotty and we began our adventure in California.

I’ve played better rounds of golf, but I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a round more than I enjoyed this one. The birdie on #2 was fun, the hole-in-one by my playing partner on #5 was incredible, and round as a whole was almost surreal. Every hole is like a postcard, and while I’ve played harder courses, I’ve never played a course that made me really think about every shot. I can honestly say I enjoyed every one of the 89 strokes I played that day (except for maybe the 3 shots it took me to get out of the bunker on 15… that’s why I told myself not to hit it there!), and as a whole, the day was perfect. I don’t use that word a lot, but it really fits here. I had great expectations for the round and it turned out to be even better than I expected. Anyway, sorry for the long blog. I hope you enjoyed it and got a little taste of my day at Pebble (along with my solo adventures with Scotty in SF and Monterey). See everyone next time!